Thursday, November 13, 2008

When Procrastination Gets the Better of Me

I'm in the middle of several deadlines -- a questionnaire for a bank perception audit and a publicity proposal for an upscale company, to name a few -- and I'm writing a blog.

So what the hell am I doing writing a blog in the middle of crunchtime?

Beats me. Only that I need something non-work related to do while I'm trying to compose my thoughts.

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Don't get me wrong: I'm not complaining. In fact, I actually enjoy the thrill and freshness of my new job as manager for editorial services in a PR company right in the heart of Makati.

It's soooo unlike my old job where I got stuck in the rut of writing spam, spam, and more spam.

Yes, I did realize that there actually is life after that wonderful self-publishing company in Cebu.

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So what do I do as manager for editorial services?

I service editors.

Of course, that was meant as a joke.

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I actually have a lot to do as manager for editorial services. Most of my work revolves around media relations, media planning, and other stuff related to media. There's also that little thing about research and writing, and I'm also in charge of that -- considering that these two endeavors are considered as editorial work.

I just thank God that I got exposed both to the academe and media because what I learned from these two professions are very useful in my current line of work.

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Somehow I find it kind of funny that I still ended up in Makati after many attempts to avoid working in it again.

But I'm not complaining now. My office is located along Perea Street, and it's very close to the walkway that winds all the way to Greenbelt, Landmark, Ayala, SM, and eventually, to the Ayala MRT station. And since my new boarding house is also in Makati, it only takes me 30 minutes to commute from my place to my office.

I also don't get to spend too much on commuting because my officemates live near my place, and they have cars. I just join their car pool as often as possible.

Life is good...

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Can't say much about my boarding house, though.

I live on the boundary between Manila and Makati somewhere near Sta. Ana. (But my landlady's father says that we're already on the Makati part.) My new room is probably 2/3 of my Cebu room, and I have to share the CR with the rest of the family I'm boarding with, as well as the other boarders.

My neat freak ways are being blown to smithereens whenever I use the CR. *shiver*

I miss my room in Cebu...

However, in fairness to the family who owns the place I'm boarding, they're a really kind and accommodating lot.

And the place is so near the office. And near to almost everything else.

Nonetheless, I may be transferring by January to my officemate's place in Sta. Mesa where they also accept boarders. She has this room which was formerly her sister's dental clinic. All she has to do is to clear the room of its clinic-like appearance and transform it into a real room complete with its own CR, cabinets, and even a small kitchen. It even has its own entrance so I won't have to knock on the owning family's door to get in. And she's reserving it for me! (Yay!)

The best thing about it is that I still get to live in Manila where I grew up.

Another yay!

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And thank God too, my ordeal with that Godawful 2Go forwarding company is over!

Danged forwarder misdeclared my Cebu things and was asking for something like almost P6 thou for a bunch of personal stuff which no one else may even want to rummage through!

As it turned out, some smartass in Cebu (either the encoder or the one who got my things from my Cebu boarding house) wrote in the bill of lading that the declared value for my stuff is a whopping P500 thou!

Geez, I never realized that worn clothes, an Orocan, a dirty electric fan, a battered 14-inch colored TV, and a bunch of baldes could actually be worth that much -- unless they were all gold-plated.

Of course, in my crazy bitch fashion, I ranted and raved at the poor customer service reps who had to deal with my wrath.

My officemates were amused by my irate statements, and even started quoting me. Here are just some of those quotable quotes:

"Huwag niyong sabihing ako ang nagkamali sa paglagay ng declared value na yan dahil kayo ang nag-declare na worth P500,000 ang gamit ko!"

"Paano naging P500,000 ang declared value niyan, e wala naman akong itinagong gold bars diyan!"

"Sino ba sa inyong opisina ang gustong kumita at my expense? Pakilapit nga sa akin at nang mapatay..."

"Pag hindi niyo yan ayusin, isusuplong ko kayo sa DTI!"

Oh well, my bitching did get the work done. Thus, my payment was reduced from almost P6 thou to P2,400+.

It does pay to be a bitch.

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And barely two weeks since I returned to Manila, I've been swamped by reunions with old friends, relatives, and former media colleagues.

As of press time, my November calendar is almost filled to the brim with schedules to meet this and that -- professional or otherwise.

Once again, not that I'm complaining.

I'm just getting less sleep these days, that's all.

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Geez, I really should be getting back to work.

I procrastinate. So shoot me.